1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interface method and device having an interface for use with a logical circuit which comprises a logical operation element including a flip-flap and a variety of gates such as an AND gate, an OR gate or a NOT gate.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to a conventional interface method employed for interfacing a microprocessor and a peripheral LSI, a status value is read out and/or execution of predetermined processing is controlled via a register referred to as a status register or a command register. Therefore, programmers who design a program for controlling the peripheral LSI must be familiar with the meanings of and correlation between the respective registers in order to understand the interface of the peripheral LSI, and are required to mind the procedure of setting the registers in preparation of programs.
Recent peripheral LSIs can accommodate more complicated functions, and accordingly are equipped with a larger number of status and/or command registers. This makes it difficult for programmers to become familiar with the meanings of or correlation between the respective registers. This difficulty potentially increases program errors and causes a longer error determination time. Moreover, due to the complexity of functions, determination can be hardly made as to whether such a function is realized by means of software or hardware. Such a background leads to a need of a method and/or device which can facilitate exchange between software and hardware.
Meanwhile, according to one method that has recently become common, an interface with a software object is defined using IDL(interface definition language). Examples of such a language may include an IDL of CORBA by OMG(Object Management Group) and an IDL by COM(Component Object Model) by Microsoft. These languages, however, are directed to only software objects and cannot accommodate hardware objects, or a device.
In view of the above, the applicant of the present application conceived an idea that, if an interface with a hardware can be defined using an IDL, hardware and software could be treated uniformly without discrimination. This could enable, for example, ready exchanges between software and hardware, thus reducing the burden on a programmer. Moreover, this could also enable, for example, ready definition of a method for interfacing with a software, thus also reducing the burden on a hardware designer.
The present invention has been conceived in view of the above and advantageously offers an interface method for a logical circuit and a device having an interface. According to the method or device of the present invention, interfacing with a device, such as a peripheral LSI, which comprises a logical circuit can be improved and the burden on a programmer in understanding registers and their correlation can be reduced. Moreover, the method or device of the present invention allows uniform treatment of a software object and a hardware object, thus enabling ready exchange between these objects.